Lenovo Thinkpad Helix

Editors' Rating

Average User Rating

At CES 2013, Lenovo introduced a new premium convertible laptop. The ThinkPad Helix. A convertible ultrabook with multitouch support, it’s versatile and offers more in terms of connectivity than many comparable ultrabooks. The base stand provides an excellent keyboard and spare USB ports.

During the past months we have seen more and more convertible ultrabooks being announced. But the ThinkPad Helix is no normal convertible with double duty, it has triple. It’s a laptop, it’s a table, but also has a specific presentation mode which many people would love, including myself. Whenever you need to present something for a small group of people, the presentation mode is an ideal option to have. With a simple lift and turn you have yourself a full-fledged presenter.

ThinkPad Helix combines the performance of a business ultrabook with the mobility of a tablet. The Lenovo ThinkPad Helix is a hybrid Windows 8 laptop-tablet that doesn’t let the other ThinkPad devices down. It’s robust, it’s functional and the price tells you won’t be buying any junk. This almost $1800 11.6-inch hybrid offers greater flexibility than some of the competition. Lenovo claims it has a 10 hour battery life. In my tests, during a normal activity day, it almost lived up to that. Which is an excellent duration. It comes with a digitizer pen comfortable hidden inside the tablet part. It functions as advertised and I had no problem using it.

Specifications:

Laptop type

Ultraportable, Convertible tablet

Thickness

0.8 inches

Weight

3.68 pounds

Operating system

Windows 8 Pro

Screen size

11.6 inches 1920 x 1080 IPS Full HD

Touch technology

Capacitive Multi-touch

CPU brand

Intel Core i5 3317U – 1.7 MHZ

CPU family

Ivy Bridge

Graphics type

Intel HD 4000

Memory

4 GB DDR3 SDRAM

Hard drive

180 GB SSD

The only bad thing I can say about the ThinkPad Helix is that I would like to have an Ethernet port on the body itself, not through a USB dongle. And it’s a little bit heavy for an ultrabook but as soon as you remove the tablet from the keyboard dock you have a better weight. And bear in mind that the processor is behind the screen, so a lot of the components usually in the base under the keyboard in normal ultrabooks are all of a sudden in the screen itself, which might add to the weight a little. Taking that into account the Helix is rather well balanced, the screen really doesn’t feel heavier. Lenovo managed to build a special high speed connection between the dock and the screen, ensuring no delay between the two, allowing some of the heavier components not needed for the tablet part to lay in under the keyboard. A very clever approach. And we can’t forget that this is an 11.6 inch screen, so it’s not really fair to compare it directly to all the 10 inch tablets out there, it’s supposed to be heavier.

I truly recommend the ThinkPad Helix. I think Lenovo has done a wonderful job and I think this device is one of the best convertibles out there right now. There might be more options on the way in the near future but who wants to wait. Not me at least.

About Adam Scott

I was born in San Jose California in 1978. My mom is a housewife and my dad is an engineer. I've always looked up to him because I love technology and always been very enthusiastic about it. The things I buy have to be good quality and they have to be able to do the job I require of them. I don't buy junk, and I don't recommend it either.
My goal with this website is to share my enthusiasm (mainly so my friends and relatives don't have to call me all the time for advice), but also so you, my dear reader, can benefit from what I discover when testing all these gadgets.

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